Taliban forces claim killing dozens of Pakistani soldiers in ongoing border clashes

Taliban Defense Ministry spokesman Enayatullah Khwarazmi stated that forces of the Islamic Emirate killed 30 Pakistani soldiers during clashes in Shorabak district of Kandahar province, capturing and later destroying a Pakistani outpost with explosives. Of those killed, 20 were reinforcements sent to the position. Khwarazmi added that Taliban fighters captured five Pakistani military posts in Dand Patan district of Paktia province and entered positions known as Top Sar Khwuch Karam and Anzerki Sar.

In a separate incident in Alisher district of Khost province, the ministry claimed four Pakistani soldiers were killed and another outpost captured. Over the past 24 hours, Taliban forces reported destroying 12 Pakistani outposts and positions, killing 41 militants and wounding 53 others, according to ministry statements reported by Ariana News and RTA. Air strikes targeted a Pakistani Frontier Corps command center known as Ghazaband in Kechlakh, Balochistan, killing and wounding dozens, while three Pakistani surveillance drones were downed.

Taliban forces reported their own losses as three killed and seven wounded in these operations. Pakistani officials have not confirmed these claims but stated that nearly 400 Taliban fighters have been killed in border clashes and airstrikes, per Amu TV, while Khaama Press cited claims of about 20 Taliban killed.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that clashes and airstrikes along the Durand Line from February 26 to March 3 displaced over 16,370 families across 10 provinces, including Khost, Kandahar, Kunar, Nangarhar, Nuristan, Paktia and Paktika. OCHA documented at least 56 civilians killed and 129 wounded, with damage to health centers and humanitarian sites, including a 20-bed clinic at an IOM transit center and the Umari returnees camp at Torkham.

Clashes, now in their ninth day, have heightened tensions along the disputed border.